The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-11-24

Ny sleepless couch seek at last.
The midnight hour Is speeding past;
list its faint football
Swift. anxious thoughts, which Danish sleep
In nameless dread their vigils keep.
o, ye afar! Rest ye!-or weepf
Regretful tears fast fall.
o, spreading chestnuts shading vinei
Dear human voices, and the whine
or petted brutes. for thee pine
To see and hear thee all
-Lydso Wood Balawin, IN Good Housekeeping.
A BIT OF GLASS.
The Strange Pathetic Will Of .
Luckless Refugee.
"Your trouble is overwork-lungs
are sound-heat all right-go to the
mountains for q months shooting.
Rough it for four weeks and you are
safe for years Of work"
Nv physician pronounced this ulti-
matum and left me. His advice fell in
with nv inclination. For somewhat
over fortnight I had been 's'ronghing
it, in the mountains in the interior OF
Virginia. To lose my bearings SO COM
pletely seemed an absurdity in one ac-
customed to long hunting expeditions.
nevertheless all day long ! had seen
neither mountaineer nor mountaincer' $
cabin. It was keen and chilly-an at
mosphere conducive to relish for the
most homely Of suppers. Tired. hungry
and bafiled by the incomprehensible
topography Of those great ridges. my
perplexity deepened into the gloomy
certainty of a supperless bed under the
pines. It frightened suddenly when a
tall man in homespun, with an ancient
gun upon his shoulder. slowly crossed
the ravine below me. A moment later
Twas beside him.
.Hit's bout dark now, stranger
YOU Just come home wild me-Joe
Craddeck. OF Fodder Top Ridge
'taint more n couple Nv mile furder
on" he Hospitality urged.
That was how it happened that sat
down that first time before Joe Grad
decks small log cabin.
A fire blazing on the hearth filled
the low ceiled room with red glow OF
pitch pine. !.
1--WE hev strangers tol'bul ofting. =
nv host remarked. '.Howsumever.
the last stranger es come erlong took
sick en- died. That wur on'y jes' when
Dildy's q baby gal, kase he give her
/ buzzom pin wild glass bead in hit.
Dunno ez could call her mine wen
nit wur savin' fur Dildy's glass
1hiner.'
Luck was against him." l said.
stretching my feet to the blaze. did
ae meet with an accident?"
..Jes' SO, stranger, the accident wur,
,e done TUX sick en- died. 'Twan't
song ago. Dildy's growed up sence.
Heah's Dildy now"
He motioned over his shoulder with
ut looking around. A girl of sixteen
topped into the doorway and hesi.
ated shyly, while she toyed with her
ong plaits Of black hair. Two things
iyeted my attention instantly. They
yoked sudden. irrepressible desire to
now more Of them. They were
,ildy's face and the pin fastening the
ollar of Dildy's blue cotton dress.
che one was undeniably beautiful
he other simply 4 mystery in this OBJ
cure cabin. It was nothing less than
ne of the finest diamonds I had eve1
eheld. Tongues Of fire seemed t.
art and scintillate in weird brilliancy
rom the magnificent solitaire. Some
races Of amazed curiosity and doub
Aay have been reflected upon my fea
Nres, for the mountaineer said:
..Hit's my Dildy. stranger" BY way
Il introduction. zen / mind me that Al
Suzzom pin is the one the Cun'el gir
her"
"Will you show it to mep" l asked
in q bland. persuasive tone, after DildJ
had shaken hands with me in shy cor
diality.
Iowned to intense curiosity, not un
mixed with some misgivings. The spo
.. was certainly isolated. The man Grad
deck might be any thing from the unso
. phisticated mountaineer to the crafty
unscrupulous highwayman. Closer in
!. spection satisfied me that the stone wa
ION color" of remarkable brilliancy
and set in old-fashioned style. The frs
! glance showed me that it was Of grea
value.
1T is beauty" I said. cautiously
.Mebbe so; Dildy likes hit" careless
" retorted Craddeck, putting at hi
corncob pipe. I'd a chunked hit il
! the Goals long ago ef the Cun'el q
0 died hadn't guv that ar thing to Dildy
Hits Gurus how that ar bit NV glass XII
shine."
'.Do you know who the stranger
wasp
! ..Dunno o l ever thought to asl
him. Wife, she mout done hit. L,
j les come home from follerin' jackson
an Early four yeah Nv fightin' in tn
valley en- round Richmond. Plowin
en- pitchin' corn hedn't kem handy
, like handlin' . muskit, en-, kem +
{ think Nv hit. tain't never been hand,
{ sense" he added, meditatively.
WAS the stranger . soldier in tn
, Southern army?"
dunno as he wur-the Cun'el he,
! drawed on y TELLER en- kilt him, el
somehow he was pow'ful sorry fur il
fotched him home one night jes' Q
d I done you, en- he never went out n
mo-. Mary tended him. but tn
Cun'el want tryin' to git well. Iwu
. hankerin' arter that track Of brusl
!. ground 'longside the Piney ridge fur
4 cattle range. Hits on'y thousand
! acre bit Nv Lam. en- turn for sale, but
. hsin't got no higher to gittin' hit. e.
/ that's wen Dildy's . toddler. TIL
q Cun'el seemed like he hoped me t
! want that ar range some day. Hit